Apple CFO Luca Maestri to Lead Challenge Against Irish Tax Ruling in Luxembourg Court This Week

Apple this week is set to challenge the European Commission's order to repay 13 billion euros in Irish back taxes, according to Reuters.

European Commisssion
The report claims Apple is expected to send a six-person delegation led by its CFO Luca Maestri to a two-day court hearing in Luxembourg on Tuesday and Wednesday. Apple will likely argue many of the same points that Apple CEO Tim Cook penned in a public letter about the tax ruling three years ago.

In a nutshell, Apple believes it follows the law and pays all the taxes it owes in every country where it operates, including Ireland. Apple has also said nearly all of its research and development takes place in the United States, so that is where the company should and does pay the majority of its taxes.

An excerpt from Cook's letter:

The Commission's move is unprecedented and it has serious, wide-reaching implications. It is effectively proposing to replace Irish tax laws with a view of what the Commission thinks the law should have been. This would strike a devastating blow to the sovereignty of EU member states over their own tax matters, and to the principle of certainty of law in Europe.

Ireland is also appealing the ruling, but Apple has finished paying back the 13 billion euros in the meantime, with the funds stored in an escrow account. If the order is overturned, the money would be returned to Apple.

In 2016, following a three-year investigation, the European Commission found Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland. Apple allegedly paid between 0.005 percent and one percent in taxes in Ireland between 2003 and 2014, compared to the the country's headline 12.5 percent corporate tax rate at the time.

Popular Stories

m1 chip slide

Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple to Hide Selfie Camera Under Display of 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday November 10, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple will conceal the front-facing camera under the screen of its 2027 iPhone, a Chinese leaker said today, corroborating reports that Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone will have no visible cutouts in the display. Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station said Apple's development of under-screen camera technology was progressing as planned for adoption in 2027, one year after it will...
iphone pocket%402x

Apple Debuts iPhone Pocket, a Limited Edition iPod Sock-Style Accessory

Tuesday November 11, 2025 1:23 am PST by
Apple has teamed up with Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE to launch iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted limited edition accessory designed to carry an iPhone, AirPods, and other everyday items. The accessory is like a stretchy pocket, not unlike an iPod Sock, but elongated to form a strap made of a ribbed, elastic textile that fully encloses an iPhone yet allows you to glimpse the display...
iphone air thinness

iPhone Air Sales Are So Bad That Apple's Delaying the Next-Generation Version

Monday November 10, 2025 11:41 am PST by
The thin, light iPhone Air sold so poorly that Apple has decided to delay the launch of the next-generation iPhone Air that was scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, reports The Information. Apple initially planned to release a new iPhone Air in fall 2026, but now that's not going to happen. Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales...
homepod mini colors

New HomePod Mini Coming Soon With These Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is expected to announce a new HomePod mini imminently, headlining with new chips. Here are all of the new features we're expecting. The second-generation HomePod mini is highly likely to contain a more up-to-date chip for more advanced computational audio and improved responsiveness. The current HomePod mini is equipped with the Apple Watch Series 5's S5 chip from 2019. Apple is likely ...
iphone black friday gold

The Best Early Black Friday iPhone Deals

Monday November 10, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season. Note: MacRumors is...
Early Black Friday Deals 1

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, and More

Saturday November 8, 2025 6:16 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Announces Launch of U.S. Passport Feature in iPhone's Wallet App

Wednesday November 12, 2025 9:15 am PST by
Apple today announced that iPhone users can now create a Digital ID in the Apple Wallet app based on information from their U.S. passport. To create and present a Digital ID based on a U.S. passport, you need: An iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.1 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 6 or later running watchOS 26.1 or later Face ID or Touch ID and Bluetooth turned on An Apple Account ...
apple intelligence erroneous support list

Apple Intelligence Apparently Too Smart for M1 Macs After Listing Error

Wednesday November 12, 2025 2:49 am PST by
Apple's website is causing some confusion among Mac owners, and for good reason – its device compatibility listing for Apple Intelligence appears to have dropped support for M1 Macs. The U.S. version of its Apple Intelligence webpage has been updated at the bottom to list "M2 or later" Mac models as eligible for the AI features, replacing the long-standing "M1 and later" requirement....

Top Rated Comments

Sathinator1 Avatar
80 months ago
Apple should pay its fair share of tax in any part of the world that it operates. These tax minimization schemes are a disgrace.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nuno Lopes Avatar
80 months ago
As an European I totally agree with Apple assessment. One of the ways small European countries have to compete and attract mass scale businesses such as the ones of Apple, against big countries like Germany and France is by negotiating better tax conditions.

Considering the small dimensions and population of these countries versus the massive scale of these companies businesses they can at a lower tax, supply financially their needs lawfully.

Of course the German, the French and the soon to leave the British, don’t like this. Their view is anti competitive. They want to have the advantages of being geographically big and large populations as well as tax advantages. They have cooked the European competition laws to their advantage but the issue of sovereignty has kept them from touching local / country tax laws. If they see this through they will be able to do whatever with local tax laws, and cook them to their advantage.

This is as ridiculous as small countries advocating that it’s unfair for them to be geographically small or not as well positioned in the flux of businesses in the map.

Mind you that all the loans given to smaller countries at better rates were for their development in exchange of commercial and production quotas towards the larger countries with plenty of agricultural fields and industrial capacity. So the lunch was not at all free. The all thing culminated with the Greek incident with the German suggestion for them to sell Islands in order to pay their dept.

Cheers.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tabilo Avatar
80 months ago
As a European I disagree with Apple on this. The European idea can only work if there is a fair competition. Countries like Ireland, Luxembourg and partly UK and the Netherlands are using loopholes to attract international cooperations to avoid taxes, which the rest of the EU has to pay for.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apolloa Avatar
80 months ago
Good luck Apple, you’ve got absolutely no hope of winning but good luck all the same.
Personally I think you should pay your taxes like everyone else and stop milking it of society but that’s just me.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
az431 Avatar
80 months ago
Apple should pay its fair share of tax in any part of the world that it operates. These tax minimization schemes are a disgrace.
So you don’t take any tax deductions that you are entitled to because it would be a “disgrace”?

I thought so.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lkrupp Avatar
80 months ago
Why bother, Apple. This is a done deal. You think you can talk the EU out of $15B? They’re drooling over the prospect of getting their hands on that cash.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)